Monogatari Series Timeline and Watch Guide
This section contains information about the release organization and chronological placement. See Story Timeline for specific story information. Monogatari Series consists of a complicated timeline, both in terms of release order of the light novels and anime as well as chronologically. There are five main "seasons" in which the books/anime adaptations are organized: First Season, Second Season, Final Season, Off Season, and Monster Season. First Season consists of the books / anime cours: Bakemonogatari and Nisemonogatari, along with Nekomonogatari Black. Kizumonogatari, originally the second released book of the light novel series, was announced as an anime movie in 2012 but was put on a hiatus up until 2015 when the film had finally returned to be released as a trilogy of films starting in January 2016 and finishing a year later. Second Season consists of five stories total being Nekomonogatari White, Kabukimonogatari, Hanamonogatari, Otorimonogatari, Onimonogatari, and Koimonogatari. While First Season consists of two books with two volumes and another two books with only one volume each, Second Season consists of only one volume, one arc books. As such, the anime adaptation, Monogatari Series Second Season consists of all five books except Hanamonogatari which was later released separately. Final Season consists of Tsukimonogatari, Koyomimonogatari, Owarimonogatari, and lastly Zokuowarimonogatari. This Season concludes the first major story arc in the series. In terms of anime, Final Season currently consists of another single arc book adaptation with Tsukimonogatari, another compilation adaptation with Owarimonogatari containing its first two volumes, an ONA series adaptation of Koyomimonogatari that was distributed on an app of the same name in Japan, and the adaptation of the third and final volume of Owarimonogatari that released as a two day special. Zokuowarimonogatari is currently set to release sometime in 2018. The Kizumonogatari trilogy of films could also in a way be considered a part of Final Season in the anime series due to their time of release and original titles, though Kizumonogatari as a whole is technically supposed to be grouped with First Season as with the light novel series. Off Season consists of additional stories that occur after Final Season and throughout the series timeline with Orokamonogatari, Wazamonogatari, Nademonogatari, and Musubimonogatari. Most of these stories fill in the gaps and set up the next season. No anime adaptations have been officially announced yet, though one source from Aniplex suggests that an adaptation is in progress. Monster Season '''consists of even more stories so far with Shinobumonogatari. The entire rest of the season has been outlined to have Yoimonogatari, Amarimonogatari, Ougimonogatari, and Shinomonogatari release within the coming years. So far, it seems these will continue the story into a new major story arc. No anime adaptations have been announced for it so far. A multitude of short stories have also been released, though it seems unlikely they will be adapted into anime. Kizumonogatari, Bakemonogatari, and Nisemonogatari are currently the only light novels officially released in English. Nekomonogatari Black is slated for a December 2017 release, while Nekomonogatari White and Kabukimonogatari are currently slated to release in January and April 2018 respectively. Only a few parts of the series are fully fan-translated online. What Order Should I Watch/Read? Both due to complications in orders of release and meta narrative story telling, there are multiple viable orders to experience the series in. All have their pros and cons, so it's up to you to decide which sounds like the best option for you. '''Note that as of the time writing this article: # The anime adaptations of Off Season and Monster Season have not been officially announced. ''' # '''Only the books: Kizumonogatari, Bakemonogatari, Nisemonogatari, and Nekomonogatari Black have officially been released in English so far. The following provides info on the most common and official orders. Anime Release / SHAFT Order For a long time, this was the rule of thumb order for anime only watchers (and the entire English speaking community) as it was mostly the only order possible for each group. With studio Shaft temporarily skipping Kizumonogatari and no official English translations for the series arriving until 2015, this is generally the order most long time English speaking fans have experienced the series in. While there's a few other reshuffles in the meta narrative, the biggest difference with this order is that it presents Kizumonogatari as a mysterious missing part of the story to be anticipated later in the series just before the finale of the main story. While many don't have a problem with this, some may argue that it leaves too many unanswered questions that are answered too late in the series. Generally, go this order if you want to experience the series as most English speakers have and or want to see how the production has changed and improved over the years with each installment in the anime adaptation. First Season # Bakemonogatari (2009) # Nisemonogatari (2012) # Nekomonogatari Black (2012) Second Season # Monogatari Series Second Season (2013) # Hanamonogatari (2014) Final Season # Tsukimonogatari (2014) # Owarimonogatari (2015) # Koyomimonogatari (2016) # Kizumonogatari Part 1: Tekketsu (2016) # Kizumonogatari Part 2: Nekketsu (2016) # Kizumonogatari Part 3: Reiketsu (2017) # Owarimonogatari (Part 2) (2017) # Zokuowarimonogatari (2018) Off Season # Orokamonogatari (TBA) # Wazamonogatari (TBA) # Nademonogatari (TBA) # Musubimonogatari (TBA) Monster Season # Shinobumonogatari (TBA) # Yoimonogatari (TBA) # Amarimonogatari (TBA) # Ougimonogatari (TBA) # Shinomonogatari (TBA) Light Novel Release / Nisio Isin Order This is the completely original order in which stories were released by author Nisio Isin as novels. Unlike anime release order, all shuffles in chronological placement are fully intentional for the narrative. Go this route if you want to experience the story as it was originally intended, at the cost of missing the mystery and anticipation element of Kizumonogatari, ''among other minor differences in the meta narrative. First Season # Bakemonogatari (2006) # Kizumonogatari (2008) # Nisemonogatari (2008 - 2009) # Nekomonogatari (Black) (2010) Second Season # Nekomonogatari (White) (2010) # Kabukimonogatari (2010) # Hanamonogatari (2011) # Otorimonogatari (2011) # Onimonogatari (2011) # Koimonogatari (2011) Final Season # Tsukimonogatari (2012) # Koyomimonogatari (2013) # Owarimonogatari (2013 - 2014) # Zokuowarimonogatari (2014) Off Season # Orokamonogatari (2015) # Wazamonogatari (2016) # Nademonogatari (2016) # Musubimonogatari (2017) Monster Season # Shinobumonogatari (2017) # Yoimonogatari (TBA) # Amarimonogatari (TBA) # Ougimonogatari (TBA) # Shinomonogatari (TBA) ''English Light Novel Release Order / "Kizumonogatari First" Order This is less of an order and more of a minor adjustment to the former two. Author Nisio Isin claims in the authors note of the novel that he thinks Kizumonogatari can come before Bakemonogatari, so if you'd like to experience it first and then proceed with one of the previously mentioned orders, it is another viable option. This could also be considered the "Vertical" release order as it is the publishing company behind the English release. The official English release of the novels released this way and has so far followed the anime release order for the proceeding parts. Chronological Order This order eliminates most meta narrative elements in favor of a linear, continuous story. Another mostly viable option, but most recommend it for rewatching / rereading rather than a first time viewing. It's also the least accessible order as it requires the viewer to jump back and forth between anime cours and novels in some places instead of finishing each at a time. Certain material has yet to be adapted or translated as well. The Koyomimonogatari short stories are not included in the list, see the visual below for placement. Note that these Koyomimonogatari arcs are mostly rough estimates as most seem to take place either during or in between certain arcs and anime series episodes, making it hard to fit them in a linear list. A dedicated viewer may need to try and pinpoint exactly which episodes to watch the Koyomimonogatari shorts in between, which is another reason this order is more suitable for a rewatch. Even if you don't watch chronologically, chronological placement should be kept in mind during traditional viewings. # Wazamonogatari (Acerola Bon Apetite) # Kizumonogatari # Nekomonogatari (Black) # Bakemonogatari # Nisemonogatari # Kabukimonogatari # Onimonogatari # Owarimonogatari Vol. 2 # Nekomonogatari (White) (occurs concurrently with Onimonogatari and Owarimonogatari Vol. 2) # Owarimonogatari Vol. 1 # Wazamonogatari (Tsubasa Sleeping) # Orokamonogatari (Sodachi Fiasco) # Otorimonogatari (occurs around the same time as Tsubasa Sleeping and Sodachi Fiasco) # Koimonogatari # Tsukimonogatari # Owarimonogatari Vol. 3 # Zokuowarimonogatari # Hanamonogatari # Shinobumonogatari # Wazamonogatari (Karen Ogre) # Orokamonogatari (Suruga Bonehead) # Orokamonogatari (Tsukihi Undo) # Nademonogatari # Musubimonogatari Visual Graphic Series Timeline Unofficial Orders There's some fan-made orders that make slight adjustments to where parts like Kizumonogatari and or Koyomimonogatari should be placed. These aren't official, but are subjective orders that are more like fusions of anime and novel release order that make slight adjustments. These are viable, but aren't based on official releases, so they weren't necessarily intended to be seen this way by neither Nisio Isin nor Shaft. Kizu After Bake, Koyomi In between Owari 1 + 2 '' This takes the Kizumonogatari placement of novel release order and combines it with the Koyomimonogatari placement of anime release order. ''Kizu In between Owari 1 + Koyomi Basically a minor adjustment to anime release order, arguably makes certain plot points flow better together. Important Information To Know Before Watching / Reading * Bakemonogatari consists of 15 episodes, but most legal streaming sites only have 12. This is because the last 3 episodes were originally released online in Japan and not on television. Beside's Amazon's Anime Strike Service, the only way to legally view these episodes is through the official blu-ray release. * The Kizumonogatari films and Koyomimonogatari are currently only legally available through the official English blu-ray releases. There are no legal streaming sites that feature them. * Keep in mind that this series acts as a puzzle in terms of the order arcs are experienced. Don't be thrown off guard by chronological order. Unless you choose that route, arcs are meant to be experienced in a shuffled fashion. * Each anime cour is merely an adaptation of a novel, not necessarily its own "season." As such, cours with multiple volumes such as Bakemonogatari or Owarimonogatari contain multiple arcs and a large number of episodes, while single volume cours such as Nekomonogatari Black or Tsukimonogatari have a small amount of episodes and only one arc. The anime cour known as Monogatari Series Second Season is unique in that it is a volume compilation cour that consists of only one arc volumes and is not named after a specific book. * Even though all the arcs in Second Season except Hanamonogatari are typically grouped into one cour known as Monogatari Series Second Season, the western blu-rays have separate releases for each arc. * A compilation of Kabukimonogatari, Onimonogatari, and Owarimonogatari Vol 2 in that order occurs at the same time as the entire Nekomonogatari Shiro arc. The three arcs are told as flashbacks during later dates. * Koyomimonogatari consists of short side stories that are mostly unimportant to the main story besides the last 2 episodes which chronologically proceed Owarimonogatari Volume 3. See Also *Monogatari *Arcs *Cours *Novels *Anime Adaptations *Story Timeline Category:List